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“Confidence is going after Moby Dick in a rowboat and taking the tartar sauce with you.”

– Zig Ziglar, American author, salesperson and motivational speaker

My Point: The Inevitable Driver Turnover Turnaround

By Marvin Shefsky

In the good old days – say two or three years ago – driver turnover was considered the trucking industry’s biggest problem. What a difference a recession makes.

According to one trucking analyst, the driver turnover rate has been cut in half, from 130 percent in 2005 to about 65 percent today. That’s still a lot of turnover for most industries, but for trucking, it represents unprecedented driver stability. Take away the usual number of new drivers who wash out within a few weeks, and you’ve got a driver pool that’s as deep and as still as this business has ever seen.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that an estimated 3,600 trucking companies went out of business last year, taking almost 140,000 trucks and who knows how many drivers off the road. That represents about 7 percent of the industry’s capacity. And the hits just keep on coming. The American Trucking Associations estimates that 25,000 trucking jobs were lost in January of this year.

However, as winter turned into spring, we began to see new signs of recovery in the economy. Orders for manufactured goods began to rise, pending home sales exceeded expectations, consumer spending jumped and the rate of new unemployment claims began to slow down. To be certain, we’re not out of the woods as far as the economy is concerned, but the optimist in me sees the glass is now half-full rather than half-empty. As I write these words in early May, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke predicts the economy will start growing again later this year, ending the recession.

If we’ve learned anything during the past few years, it’s that things can turn around quickly, especially in the trucking industry. The recession will end, the economy will rebound and the trucking industry will lead the way, as it always has.

Given the big chunk of trucking capacity that vanished over the last 18 months, the driver shortage and 100-percent-plus driver turnover rates will surely return with a vengeance the moment the economy turns around. With no slack in the system, something will have to give. The question is, will your truck cabs be filled with quality drivers and ready to roll when the turnaround bell sounds?

Now is the time to start planning for the expansion that is sure to happen in the not-so-distant future. If you anticipate growing your fleet as the economy rebounds, get the word out there. If you offer a great place for drivers to work, broadcast it. If you want “top of the mind” awareness among drivers, tell them. It’s called marketing and advertising, and by the way, we’re here to help.

-- Marvin Shefsky, Publisher/CEO
(Marvin@otrprotrucker.com)

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